Worship at Home - By David Godfrey

W/B Sunday 14th June 2026

Welcome:

Hello everyone and welcome to worship. My name is Reverend David Godfrey. I'm the superintendent Minister of Middlesbrough and Esther Methodist Circuit. We begin our worship this week with a verse from Psalm 100. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever. And his faithfulness to all generations.

Our opening hymn is number 503 in singing the faith or number 267 in hymns, and Psalms.

This is one of Charles wesler's greatest hymns.

Hymn:  StF 503, H&P 267,  “Love divine all loves excelling”

Prayers:

Confession and words of assurance (taken from rootsontheweb.com):  

Lord, sometimes we cling tightly to familiar things, too frightened to listen to your call to move forward, to trust that you will give us the strength we need.  Forgive us, and help us to trust you more.  Amen.  The God who cared for the lost sheep of Israel cares for us, and will pick us up from our wretchedness, and bring us back into his loving arms.  The God who encourages us to step out in faith longs for us to take the risk of trusting him with our lives.  We go forth knowing we are cleansed from all our sin, ready to start anew in his marvellous life. 

Amen.

Reading:  Matthew 9:35 - 10:8

Reflection:

Jesus’s ministry looks so easy in the gospels.  He travels from town to town, village to village, teaching in the synagogues, healing the sick, mixing with all kinds of people and gaining an enormous following.  But Jesus wants to expand his mission and commissions the 12 disciples to help him.  After all, 12 workers must be better than one.  But when the disciples have to “Proclaim the Kingdom of God” without Jesus, it suddenly looks a lot more difficult.  Jesus gives them authority to do the work he has been doing, but that authority is limited.  It is not a blank cheque to do as they want.  They are restricted to where they go, only ‘to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’  They are restricted to poverty, taking only the clothes they stand up in.  They are reliant on the hospitality of those who receive the message with open hearts, which puts the pressure on for them to be successful, otherwise they’ll starve.  However, in amongst all the restrictions and warnings of trouble ahead, Jesus offers some words of encouragement.  It turns out that they are not going to be on their own after all.  God will be with them through his Spirit.  The Spirit of God will be a strengthening presence who will help them to endure the hardships.  This is encouraging.  

Of course the Christian church in later years would look at these instructions and feel that somehow Jesus is speaking not just to the disciples, but to them.  After all we, the Church, are the body of Christ.  Jesus is no longer with us, but we are his hands, his feet, and his voice.  His mission is ours.  We are inheritors of that authority he first gave to his disciples long ago and we know that our task is the same.  To proclaim the kingdom of heaven, to heal, to teach, to serve, to reconcile, and to persuade people’s hearts that God loves them and wants them to be part of his family.  We know the task, we know it is hard, and we know that we are not alone.  God’s Spirit encourages and strengthens us.  But to whom shall we go?  Who, I wonder, are the lost sheep in our community, or in our town?  It is a test for the Church to show the same compassion and love that Christ had for the crowds in Galilee long ago.

Hymn:  StF 407 “hear the call of the kingdom”